Wind Today - Q3 2008 - (Page 26)

training as the technology changes,” says Cusick. He says Vestas is the only wind turbine manufacturer with a training facility that has received ISO certification. Safety is also paramount for Vestas technicians. “Vestas has an excellent safety department,” says Cusick. “All climbing gear is tested and approved by our health and safety department, and replaced every two years.” According to Cusick, the company has never had a catastrophic accident due to gear failure. Service Lifts One way that SMUD has shown support for the health and safety of technicians has been to install service lifts in every wind turbine at the Solano Wind Project. “Companies spend so much money and time training wind technicians,” says Cusick, “that the longer we can maintain their working years, the better.” In the spring of 2008, SMUD invested in the purchase and installation of service lifts from Power Climber Wind, Seattle, WA (206-577-0162), for each of the 52 wind turbines at the Solano Wind Farm Solano Wind Farm for Supplier List for Phase 2B Balance of Plant D.H. Blattner and Sons, Inc. Civil Engineering and Surveying DK Associates Concrete and Aggregate Supply Rinker Materials Electrical Collection System System 3 Environmental Planning URS Corporation EPC Contractor Vestas Americas Fence and Gates Pisor Fence Division, Inc. Foundation Excavation Anderson Drilling Full Service O&M Vestas Americas Geotechnical QA/QC Neil O. Anderson Meteorological Tower Sioux Falls Tower and Communication Owner’s Engineer IEC Corporation Owner’s QA/QC URS Corporation Permitting URS Corporation Service Lifts Power Climber Wind Transportation Triple R Heavy Haul Transportation Wilhelm Trucking Wind Turbine Supplier Vestas Americas Wind Project. “Required maintenance of wind turbines is essential to meeting performance goals,” says Bertolino, “so we want to make sure our technicians have the ability to get up and down as easily as possible.” According to Cusick, some technicians climb to the top of the wind farm’s 50-, 65-, and 80-meter towers three or four times per day. Towers proposed for Phase 3 of the project may be as tall as 105 meters (344 feet). The Statue of Liberty is 305 feet high. “With these service lifts, technicians can step in and push a button and be at the top in 11-1/2 minutes,” reports Cusick. “My guys really love those service lifts,” he says. Cusick says the service lifts at the Solano Wind Project were installed post-erection since the wind turbines were already operating. In the future, he says, Vestas plans to include the service lifts as part of their original purchase package proposals. Christine Coates, editor WIND TODA Y Third Quarter 2008 Response No. 261 26 http://www.darcorp.com http://www.darcorp.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Wind Today - Q3 2008

Wind Today - Q3 2008 Contents 24th Annual CanWEA Conference and Trade Show Vancouver, BC, Conference Host City CanWEA Banquet/Awards WINDPOWER 2008 Review WINDPOWER 2008 Awards AWEA Fall Symposium 2008 Solano Wind Project Large Wind Turbine Manufacturers Forum Manufacturers of Wind Turbines Installed in the United States Wind Turbine Manufacturers Installed Capacity Prince Wind Energy Project Education and Training for A New Wind Frontier Joyce McLean Jim Walker Supply Chain Challenges and Solutions . . . from the Turbine OEM Perspective . . . from the Component OEM Perspective . . . from the Base Industry Perspective . . . from the Investor Perspective U.S. Wind Industry Installations Exceed 20,000 MW 20% by 2030 Summary Analysis Global Wind Turbine Procurement: Strategies and Contract Structures Wind Turbine Acquisition WT News: Association News WT News: Government WT News: Canada WT News: United States WT News: International MMS Close to Issuing Leases for Offshore Testing of Renewable Resources Expert Says Turbine Related Deaths May Cause Significant Impact to Bat Population Windpower Turbines Spinning Again on Prince Edward Island Map: Wind Turbine, Tower, and Blade Manufacturers in the United States A Look at Regional Entities U.S. Installed Wind Capacity State Wind Resource Rankings Wind Resource Maps (Wisconsin and Maine) Bruce Bailey, AWS Truewind John Keating, Canadian Hydro Composotech Crane Service Inc. GPCo Inc. Morgan AM&T 3M Bennett International Group Wind Farms Completed in the United States Wind Farms Under Construction in the United States Glossary Product Surveys Calendar Ad Index

Wind Today - Q3 2008

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